Merry Christmas and a Hubski New Year! Finished my thesis on Sunday. I'll pick it up this Friday from the print shop, 'cuz I made it into a muthafuckin 160-page 17x24cm softcover. Gonna watch Star Wars with my best friends, then grab some KFC and celebrate two birthdays in our group by watching Samurai Cop. Gonna be fun (even if SW won't). lil, I look forward to your 2017 reflection. Not to pressure you or anything, but I feel like we/I could use a healthy look back on a weird year.
I want the hardcovery Anniversary Collector’s edition. Congrats killerI made it into a muthafuckin 160-page 17x24cm softcover
Merry Christmas all. Hope you all had a good one this year, and that the year 2018 treats you well. I’m on a train leaving my hometown, heading to the city. I come from a place where you say you’re going to the city and everyone knows what you mean, even though it’s four hours away. This state is large and old and filled with the spirit of better times had. When we talk of two America’s this is the one we speak of in a lesser light. Or at least view it as a dimming light. There’s a feeling of if stagnancy that is unsettling to me and is something I finally put a pulse to this year. Now, there are some pocketed gasps or maybe grasps at revitalizing this small rust belt city which hasn’t been in the limelight since before WWII. Those places are great for my hometown. But there are so many unfulfilled promises, plans which fall apart immediately or in the last hour, and a general air of wanting things to get better but never truly believing it. These are the people who are the salt of the Earth, those who have never left the northeast or even their own home state. Some of them have never wanted to leave, the rest have never had the means or ambition to actually get out and explore. The attitudes are, at times, as calcified as the economic situation. I’m happy to be heading back west tomorrow. It feels more like home, or at least I’ve made more of a home there than I have anywhere else at this point in my life.
I've often wondered lately to what extent these collapsing towns could've been avoided if the people in them were willing to make more changes (beyond voting for a sociopath).Some of them have never wanted to leave, the rest have never had the means or ambition to actually get out and explore. The attitudes are, at times, as calcified as the economic situation.
I think it comes down to economy, right? There have to be revenue streams for any town. For some its manufacturing, others tourism/entertainment. Some cities and towns are tech-hubs, travel-hubs, etc. If you have a population of 5000, call it 3500 working adults, you need 3500 jobs that pay living wages within an hour or two, whether that is something inherently bringing value to your small town or else a robust connection and transit corridor to a larger city that you can leech off of. If at the end of the year, you simply don't have enough folks paying taxes, making enough to save a little bit AND spend in an economically healthy manner, your town is gonna starve. Might be fast, might be slow, but if you can't attract some kind of investment, nothing else really matters.
Sure, and that describes the death spiral pretty well. I guess my question (and I genuinely don't know the answer) is to what extent the failure to adapt to the changes is someone's fault. In other words, one of the reasons that immigration is good because it brings in the people who are willing to go through hardship in order to improve their lot. To what extent are these towns' collapse a reflection of the fact that the only people who stay are the ones who are unwilling to change?
I feel similar about my hometown even though it is nearly as remote, being only 20 minutes from Tel-Aviv. While the infrastructure is getting better and technology found its way, the social and educational aspect in this 30k city is going backwards with a scary speed. People are getting more conservative and music schools are closing down. I always have this feeling that I owe this place something. I have the urge to do something to make it less of a hell for the young generation so they have the same chance as me. Give something back. Do you also feel something similar?
No, I can’t say I feel like I owe my hometown anything. It happens to have been where I was born and raised, and easily could have been anywhere else or nowhere. I feel much more a sense of wanting to give back to the community I currently live in.
I was back in my own hometown on Monday. It's a small farming community. The population is about 2000 people and has been for decades. It's the largest town in any direction for 20 miles, with smaller towns of 600-1200 dotting the countryside every 7-10 miles. I live about 2.5 hours away in a city of about 250,000 with a metropolitan area of about double that. Interestingly, I feel no need or want to give anything back to my hometown. It isn't animosity; I'm not angry at them. I just feel nothing toward the town I grew up in.
Neither! I'm still in the northeast. Do keep seeing fare sales for Air Alaska to Denver...
First day back at work after the holiday. SO far so good. It's nice to be away from family. not my immediate family. my wife's family. I really do love them. but her sister married a guy who is glued to breitbart on his phone. I shit you not. I don't even bother engaging. He keeps it to himself (mostly). I'm grateful for the little things. I love you hubski!
Christmas was pretty good. We spent it with my family, since we're not really in contact with my mother-in-law anymore, a fact that has improved our quality of life significantly. This was the first year my daughter's really been old enough to get it, and she had a ball. Watching her was probably the high point of the whole thing. Holidays (or, more accurately, my grandparents during holidays) always exhaust my mom, which is a pity since those are also the only times we get to spend any sustained time with her. My grandmother must be the center of and most important thing wherever she is, but the rest of the family's tolerance is waning. My dad, brother, and I don't really go with her attempted narratives, and so she was very quiet during the evenings (we only see them for dinner on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day). Definitely ate well: Christmas Eve dinner is a shrimp and scallops dish with a parmesan sauce of some kind, and of course tortière for Christmas evening. Much video games: I got an iTunes gift card for Christmas, so have been buying a few iOS games that I've had my eye on and that are on sale. Final Fantasy Tactics for $6? Yes. I also got Mario Kart 8, which was great fun, and even my wife enjoys. I also got her hooked on Kingdoms and Castles, which is worth the $7.50 already, and more is hopefully being added. It's a good thing I stocked up, as my wife is back to work today, meaning I'm solo-parenting for the rest of the week. She's actually going to a show out of town on the 30th, so I'll be truly on my own for a couple of days then. Somehow I'll survive (I'm just glad my progeny got some new toys recently!). The plan is for an uneventful New Year's, then going to see Star Wars on the 2nd, since our daughter's school reopens by then.
knock knock Hey, a cup of tea for me. Enough alcohol for a while... I hope everyone is having a good time with their families and is well fed :) I am spending my holidays with my polish family in Wroclaw. The past 6 days were a marathon of eating and drinking (polish, heavy, drinking) and now I am happy to have 3 days of quite before the last push. Staying here for another week before I head back to Germany. I needed the change of scenery. I lately had the feeling of running on autopilot without much time to reflect, I guess that's a side effect of this pre-christmas time when everyone is just spinning. Currently thinking about what direction I should take after my PhD. My project will need maybe 2 more years to bring to a point that I can wrap up and write into a thesis/paper but I would like to plan my next step a little better. I am thinking about moving from doing science to influencing how science is done. I am sick about how this whole system is broken and wondering what would be the best way to change it to the better. Infiltrate from the inside or create new... What do you guys think? As every year, I tend to have thought about many projects that I want/could do in the coming year and then I am reminded of how I only managed to finish a fraction of what I wanted to to. I am sure some know this feeling, how do you deal with it?
It's kind of a double-edged sword, on the one hand it is easy to get dejected because of plans left unfinished, but on the other it does mean that you have a lot of interests which is a good thing. The best advice that I can give to you is to prioritize. Don't be afraid to make lots of plans, but think about which are most important to you. Then, if one of your big priorities falls through you have backup(s) ready and waiting. I need to do a better job of this myself this year.As every year, I tend to have thought about many projects that I want/could do in the coming year and then I am reminded of how I only managed to finish a fraction of what I wanted to to. I am sure some know this feeling, how do you deal with it?
Weekly Review is a great idea! This year I would like to attempt a craft fair. This will definitely impact my reading time though. I did a lot of crafting this year and it shows in my books read count. Learning is always on my list, this year I am going to focus on photography and knitting. I feel an ask hubski coming on.
I actually managed to read more books this year than in the last 5 combined. This was easy, as I didn't read a single book (okay, maybe one or two) in the 5 years before and this year I read 4 books! Definitely not enough but it was a start, even though they were short books (Hermann Hesse)
